Of Scales and Apples
by MegaTJ
Summary: Heartbroken, Spike is turned away from attempting to woo Rarity by the guidance of an emotional embodiment named Star Dancer. Who will she turn his feelings to? And can he even trust her not to lead him to another heartbreak, or worse?
1. Frustrated Failure

Frustrated Failure

Spike stared at his feet on the trip back to the library. Another failed attempt at getting Rarity's attention had been on his mind as he left the Carousel Boutique. He sighed. It had been his seventh attempt over the course of the week. A new record. His mood had been sour ever since he realized that no matter what he tried, it would always end with "Oh, Spike, you shouldn't have", or "You're such a nice dragon" and he would receive a few measly gems for his efforts. Only this time he didn't get a thing.

His failures just kept racking up. The more he thought about it, the more he didn't want to think about it. Once, capturing Rarity's heart seemed like something achievable. Now it he merely fought for a small chance to at least gain her undivided attention.

Spike looked at the path to the library. It wasn't much farther, but he didn't want to go just yet. Twilight and her new assistant would just remind him of his heartbreak. It wouldn't have mattered if he continued or stayed, he would be reminded anyhow. For it seemed that all of the Elements of Harmony had found a new "friend".

Well, that was except for Rarity. It didn't matter, though; love was blossoming all over Equestria. No matter where he turned, he would find another couple happily enjoying ice cream or walking to watch a romantic sunset together.

The dragon sat on a bench to think about his next plan, if he could at all. The only thing that could take his mind from it was the small gem he found wedged in a tree trunk on his way back from Rarity's. It was a ruby. Though small, he could still enjoy its sweet taste. It would be the kind of thing that could cheer him up.

He shrugged; it had been a while since his taste buds had enjoyed the delicate sensation of a ruby. He looked at the mineral and licked his lips. As he carried it to his mouth, he stopped after seeing something in the heart of it. The dragon thought he saw what looked like a small flame in the ruby. He shrugged it off as his tired brain seeing the sunset refracting through it. Once again he brought the gem up to his mouth, but stopped after deciding his stomach's overactive acid wouldn't let him hold it down. He exhaled in anger. He couldn't even eat his sorrow away.

Deciding that it was best he got to the library before Luna's moon got into the air, he left the bench to continue to the library. He held his breath as he entered the library, hoping to look more cheerful than Celestia knew he was on the inside. The foyer was surprisingly vacant for the number of packed carts of books that needed to be shelved. He sure was glad it was his day off; there was no way he could even think of more work after the day he had. From the back room, he heard somepony pushing a cart in his direction. A little waiting revealed that it was Dream Runner, Ponyville's new assistant librarian and Twilight Sparkle's new coltfriend.

"Hey, Spike", greeted the colt brightly as the dragon crossed the room. "How'd it go with Rarity?"

"I don't want to talk about it." was the harsh reply.

"Yikes", Dream Runner commented, "That bad, huh?"

Spike stopped. "It's getting harder with her, Dream", he sighed.

The Pegasus turned his eyes to the floor. "Sorry, I would hug you, but I don't think it would mean as much as Twilight's." He smiled, hoping that the small joke would in some way cheer the dragon up. From his standpoint it didn't look like it. Spike didn't even attempt to drop his frown.

"I'm going to bed", the dragon huffed. He wasn't intentionally giving Dream Runner a hard time, and the pony knew it because it wasn't the first time Spike had come home in a mood inspired by failure. Dream understood the way he felt, never actually having experienced it himself, but knew what it was like to be frustrated from an unreachable goal.

"I'll have a bowl of sapphire flakes waiting for you in the morning", Dream called up the stairs after him.

Spike wanted to smile, and tried his best to now that he had something to look forward to, but it just wasn't going to happen so long as he kept dwelling on his day. One of the good things about his life now that Dream Runner was a part of it was that the colt treated him like a little brother. He was always there to lift some of the burden from Spike's oftentimes weary shoulders. Tomorrow he expected to get a second day off as Dream Runner didn't like when he had to work with depression.

As Spike climbed into his basket, he remembered the ruby he found on his way home. Still unable to eat, he decided to just look at it. It was smaller than he first thought, just barely the size of his largest claw. The light from the window reflected through it, setting the inside ablaze with orange light. It was so pretty that he almost regretted he was going to eat it soon. His mind drifted to what tomorrow might bring. If he did get the day off like he was sort of hoping for, he was probably just going to spend it trying to get out of his sulking disposition. How exactly he was going to do that not even he knew yet. Spike lifted himself off the pillow at the bottom of his basket to reveal his small stash of gems. He pushed the pile aside for the new addition so he could find it with ease later.

He heard the front door open and close downstairs. "I heard what happened from Rose", Twilight said to Dream. "How is he?"

"I think he's a little worse this time", Dream replied, "I don't know how much more he can take. He just went to bed."

"Before seven?" Twilight gasped. "If I didn't swear myself to Pinkie Pie secrecy, I'd talk to Rarity about this."

"If it was my place, I would too."

Spike clamped his blanket around his head to drown out the voices from below. He absolutely hated it when they talked about him and Rarity. It reminded him of his lack of success. He didn't know how long he muted the world out, all he knew was that he did so until he fell asleep. The only reason he knew he had fallen from consciousness was the bizarre dream he had.

The purple dragon found himself standing inside Carousel Boutique, of all places. Thinking it a vivid pipe dream, he stood waiting for Rarity to walk in ready to go out for an evening date. He waited and waited and waited, only to find out that maybe he was standing in a nightmare with the absence of the white unicorn symbolizing his real-world grasp of her love: nonexistent. It felt like hours before something finally happened.

Behind him, Spike heard the light sounds of hoofsteps on the floor. He spun around to find a white pony standing not even ten feet away. This was no ordinary pony, though. He recoiled in fear upon seeing that her face was completely blank, no visible eyes or mouth. With a second, hesitant look, he saw that there was also lacked a mane and tail, leaving just the base of a pony standing in front of him. It stared at him intently. If he didn't know any better he could have thought that it was almost reading him like a book.

Fortunately, it didn't last too much longer. Once the pony, if one could even call it that, was satisfied with studying the dragon, it turned around and left the boutique. For some crazy reason, Spike followed it. He didn't get to see it again. The second he opened the door, everything around him went black. His eyes opened to reveal a darkened room around him. Groggily, he sat up. His dragon vision let him see the clock above Twilight's bed which read three o'clock. He sighed. Everything that had happened in the dream still confused him, but he decided to just sleep on it. Lying back down, he yawned, "Tomorrow's going to be a better day."

_You have no idea Spike_, echoed a voice in his head so softly that not even he could hear it.

**So this is the quick reboot for the story. Thanks to my good reader Dragon Outcast, I've decided to tweak it a little to slow the plot down and add a little foreshadowing for suspense. Thanks a lot for the suggestion!**

**Trivia:**

**This story was written before a few of my first six stories, so you'll probably notice a difference in my writing style and a few things that may not make sense for the first three chapters until I can clean it up.**


	2. Picnic Crusade

Picnic Crusade

Morning came too soon for the distressed dragon. All he wanted to do was stay in bed, but the light coming in from Twilight's open window harassed his eyelids so much that he couldn't possibly get back to sleep. He sat up drowsily, and instantly greeted.

"Good morning, Spike!" Dream said as cheerfully as he could amidst making his bed. "How did you sleep?"

"I think I had a nightmare, but I'm not sure…" he yawned.

"You okay?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah, it was just weird." A brief flash of the pony's blank face scared Spike to full alertness. He played it off as a quick stretch. "Are there still sapphires downstairs?"

Dream raised a brow slyly. "Do I love treasure hunting?"

"Thanks." He hopped out of his basket and jogged down to the first floor, where the newest member of the library frolicked around with Peewee and Owlowiscious. Coal, the firefox that Dream Runner had recently adopted had, in the past week, become a great new addition to the family, having learned early on that the books were not to be eaten or set on fire while keeping the pesky book-munching parasprites away. Spike gave the canine a quick scratch behind the ear as he passed him on the way to the kitchen, where the soft aroma of blue gems pulled him in like a dragon-magnet.

Twilight was too busy with cleaning the oven to notice him when he sat at the table. That wasn't particularly a bad thing. Usually the morning after his Rarity failures brought a lecture from the unicorn about broadening his horizons. Any day he didn't have to deal with that was a day that started off on the right hoof. He wasted no time in eating the sapphires set out for him. He was grateful, for they were aged to perfection. It sure was lucky Dream Runner had brought his mineral expertise into the library when he moved in. While Twilight treated him to the occasional gemstone, she couldn't exactly tell what exactly was ripe and what was so sour that Spike had to force his puckered lips back into their normal shapes so she wouldn't feel bad.

Filling his stomach with the succulent stones of blue slowly emptied his head of all woeful thoughts. With every bite he found himself slipping further and further away from his despair. His claws soon found the bottom of the bowl, and, despite the slight disappointment of no longer having a dragon's equivalent to blueberries, he smiled with a happy sigh. The memories of his dream and even Rarity were finally subdued by the satisfaction of his appetite. He hopped down from the table, muttered an "I'm going out" to Twilight, and left the library for the chilly outside.

The sudden drop in temperature was just what Spike needed to get himself fully awake. He shivered against the cold dew still lingering after the sun rose. It wasn't much of a bother; it actually felt pretty nice against his scales. He heard giggling coming from somewhere near, and when he looked around he found Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon laughing to themselves just near the schoolhouse. The evil grins sculpted to their faces told the dragon they probably had just targeted one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders with bullying words of torture.

Just to make sure, he backtracked their path and sure enough, found a crestfallen Applebloom walking in the opposite direction. Seeing her head almost drag the ground, the dragon quickly stroll up to her. Since he was used to helping out the Crusaders, he already knew what to do.

"Good morning, Applebloom!" he said cheerfully.

"Ain't so good fer me", she responded.

"Why not?"

She turned away from him and started in another direction. Spike didn't give up. He stayed on her hooves and kept it up. "Come on Applebloom. It's alright."

She stopped. "No it ain't."

When he managed to get a glimpse of her face, he saw that she was crying. Whatever those bullies did to her his time it was hardly good. He dug around for something to say, but without knowing what exactly they said to her, he was running blind.

However, Applebloom went on. "Ah ain't never gonna get mah Cutie Mark!" she wailed so loud it left a ring in his ears.

Whether it was impulse or just the fact that she needed comfort, Spike couldn't tell when she flung her hooves around him and sobbed softly into his shoulder. When the shock settled, he patted her back. "Sure you will. You just have to keep trying."

"But Ah try all the time..."

Spike thought about what he could say to make her feel better. The sooner she stopped crying into his shoulder the sooner he would be able to quell his blush. "That just means that all the stuff that didn't get you your Cutie Mark wasn't good enough."

She let him go. "What?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Your Cutie Mark must be really special if you don't have it yet. I mean look at Diamond Tiara. Hers isn't all that special if she got it so early, right?"

Applebloom wiped away her tears. "That makes sense", she giggled, "How can a pony even get a tiara for a Cutie Mark anyways?"

"Must have been real easy. Anypony can wear a tiara."

The filly smiled. "Thanks Spike." She gave him a quick thank you hug and was just about to leave when a thought popped into her head. "Hey, Spike."

"Yeah?"

"Me an' the other Crusaders are havin' a picnic in the park today. Ah'm bringin' enough apples fer one more if ya wanna come with."

The invitation was nice, and he was enjoying his second day off, so he nodded. "Sure, why not?"

The two made small talk along the way to the park, mostly about why the Crusaders were having a picnic on such a nippy day. Applebloom explained to the dragon that they were taking the day off from Crusading as most of the group sustained injuries from a snowboarding trip the day before. The conversation drifted to life on the farm and in the library, then to Spike's trip to Canterlot the week before. Spike had always been friends with the Crusaders, but this was the first time he used his spare time to actually talk with one. It was pretty cool to talk with somepony closer to his age. Usually Twilight and the other ponies he regularly found himself around talked about bills and things like that. Applebloom had nothing to stress over except for getting her Cutie Mark. Surprisingly, he found that really easy to relate to.

"I kinda know what you're going through", Spike told her, "I was the same way during the last dragon migration."

She didn't get to reply because they had finally reached the edge of the large picnic blanket six other ponies were sitting atop.

"It's about time you got here!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "We were starting to think you got into a major battle with six—"

"Seven", the only colt, Cotton Threads corrected.

"Yeah, seven ninja ponies!"

"Ah think Cotton's imagination's startin' t'get to ya, Scootaloo", Applebloom stated with a raised brow. She changed the subject to her follower. "Y'all don't mind if Spike picnics with us, right?"

"That's okay, Ah guess", said the oldest member, Apple Sprout, who was surprisingly not related to Applebloom. "We got plenny o' food."

"That's great!" Applebloom cheered. She plopped down and started passing apples around from her bulging saddlebags.

Spike munched quietly while he waited for somepony to speak up. It was awkward already to show up last minute with Applebloom, let alone bring attention to himself. He used his silence to look around at the bandaged ponies. Nothing looked too serious, though they sported a few large bruises where the bandages failed to reach. He cringed at the thought of what exactly happened during their snowboarding exhibition. For a few minutes nopony said anything, but that was only until the first few bites.

Once their older Pegasus member, Sprinkle, finished her star fruit slices, she spoke up. "Did everypony sleep okay last night?"

A couple of groans went around combined with the rest of the group slowly nodding. Scootaloo, one of the groaners, said, "I had a nightmare I kept falling down a never-ending snowboarding trail…"

"I had a dream I was flying with my snowboard fighting the forces of evil!" cheered Cotton.

"What else do ya dream about?" Apple Sprout's sister Juneberry said sarcastically.

"Fighting evil on a hang glider!"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "That figures."

"Any other weird dreams?" Scootaloo inquired absently to keep the conversation going.

Spike leaned back. "I had one about a faceless pony…" he said to nopony in particular.

"No. Way." Scootaloo deadpanned.

Unfortunately, Sprinkle was reaching for a third juice box that happened to put her in the way of Cotton during an excited spit take. "You mean you dreamed about the Slendermare!?"

"What?"

"The Slendermare!" Scootaloo repeated, "She's like the worst pony to dream about!"

"Doom to all who peers into her formless face!" Cotton chanted.

"Hey!" Applebloom shouted, "Yer startin' t'scare Spike!"

The two accidental tormentors turned to see Spike staring wide-eyed at the whole group. They chuckled apologetically. "Sorry, Spike", Scootaloo said first.

Cotton offered him a cupcake. "Apology cake?"

The dragon shook himself free of the shock of paranoia. He snatched a cupcake from the platter and stuffed away his fear. However, he didn't get to completely forget his dream, whether or not it was up to him to stop thinking about it.

"A pony with no face?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

He nodded. "Yeah. And no tail and mane either…"

"That sounds like a weird lookin' pony!" laughed Juneberry.

"Not to mention creepy", Scootaloo whispered to Cotton, who nodded in agreement.

"Kinda sounds like a ponikin", Sweetie Belle mused, "I think I remember Twilight saying something about those kinda dreams, but I can't remember much."

"Major bummer", Scootaloo commented.

"I'll just ask her when I get back", Spike said.

From that point the group stopped talking about faceless ponies and instead turned the corner of Hero Avenue when Applebloom mentioned what Spike said to her just before going to the picnic. Everypony had to keep Apple Sprout from rising and tracking down the bullies as she positioned herself as the CMC's big sister and protector since she was the biggest and oldest of them. Applebloom made extra sure she got the point of how nice he was about it across to such an extent that by the time she was done, a red patch of blush cultivated across the dragon's face. What made it deepen was the fact that the yellow filly would not let a single drop of modesty upset the pool of praise.

"Ah'm jus' sayin' ya really made mah day better, Spike", she said to ease the embarrassment. "Thanks."

Spike managed to crack a smile. "You're welcome."

"Welp, what now, y'all?" asked Apple Sprout to turn the conversation away from Spike's chivalry.

"Big Brother's planning a dinner party!" Cotton exclaimed randomly.

Sprinkle sat up. "When?"

"This weekend. We used to have lots of those back in Trottingham!"

"Cool. Who's on the invite?" asked Scootaloo.

"Anypony who wants to come! There's gonna be plenty of food!"

After that little bit of conversation, the picnic blanket grew boring. If the Crusaders weren't so beat up from their last adventure, they might have played a few games to get the excitement going again. On that note, they had no choice but to pack up and head home. Applebloom decided to go to the library with Spike, mainly because he was rewarded with nearly all of the leftovers for helping her out. She carried half of the food, and he carried the other half. Neither could dig up anything to say, so the walk was quiet. That wasn't so bad; the day was pretty nice now that the sun was out. The air had warmed up considerably, but not so much as it does during the summer.

Whenever Spike looked back to make sure he wasn't leaving Applebloom in the dust, he could have sworn he saw her staring at him. He shrugged it off since he was leading her to the library. There was really nothing else to look at anyways, and she was still a little grateful for earlier. The filly managed to catch up when the library came into view. Apparently the silence wasn't just getting to Spike, because she said something that really caught the dragon off guard.

"Hey, Spike, ya wanna stay over this weekend?"

He blinked. "Uh, why?"

"'Cuz Ah'm havin' mah first slumber party an' Ah'm invitin' as many ponies as Ah can." She seemed a little nervous, and the nervousness managed to jump the gap to Spike, who was hesitant to reply. "Ah mean it's okay if ya don' want to. Ah jus' thought ya might wanna get outta the library for a night or two."

"I don't know, Applebloom", Spike said uneasily, "Weekends are pretty busy for us. We usually have a lot of books and scrolls to organize."

She frowned in disappointment. "Oh…that's okay then…Ah don' wanna mess yer schedule up."

The near sadness in her voice caused him to quickly reconsider. "But I'll talk to Twilight about it." He smiled. "Maybe I can get out of it."

Her face instantly brightened. "Thanks Spike."

They made it to the library soon after that, and when they dropped the food off on the kitchen table, said their goodbyes. Spike was relieved to see the filly leave happy, but was still unsure of the slumber party idea. He sat in front of the large pile of food and rubbed his temples in frustrated thought. Who knew helping a girl's feelings would lead to this? Not that it was a bad thing. No, Spike just didn't see any of this coming and was now stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

Twilight walked in. She saw Spike rubbing his forehead on the table just on the other side of a mountain of food and was immediately curious. "Spike? Where did all of this food come from?"

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders", he answered without looking up. "I made Applebloom feel better after Diamond Tiara made fun of her and got all of this."

Hearing what he did peaked the unicorn's interests. She pulled up a chair next to him. "Why are you so down then? Usually one who gets so much food has a reason to smile."

"She invited me to a slumber party…"

"Applebloom?"

He nodded.

Smiling, Twilight asked, "Why don't you go?"

"This weekend is supposed to be really busy for the library…"

"Oh, Spike", she laughed, "Don't worry about that. Dream and I can take care of it by ourselves."

"Really?" he asked no more enthusiastically than before.

"Yes. It won't be a problem for us, Spike. You can go spend time with your friends without having to work while you do it."

He finally brought his head up from the tabletop. An unclear look still crossed his face, but he did look pretty definite now. "I guess I'll go."

"Great, I'll make sure you're ready when the time comes. Now don't you think you should let that filly know you'll be there?"

He nodded. "I'll be right back." Before he set out again into the warming day, Spike climbed the stairs. He uncovered his collection of gems and picked out the ruby from the evening before. It glowed against the sunlight shining in from the window he held it up to. It really was pretty, and from what he knew about them, this one would surely be delicious. Deciding to eat it after seeing Applebloom, he tucked it under his scales. If he would have taken a longer, or even second look at the red gem, he would have noticed the featureless pony staring back at him.

_Soon, my draco friend…_

"What?" Spike turned around at the sound of the mare's voice.

"I didn't say anything." Twilight said on her way by.

"Must be hearing things…" With that in mind, he ignored the soft giggling sound he was unaware was actually echoing from the still-glowing gem under his scales.

**Man, these delays are really getting on my nerves! College! So much of my time is taken up! On the bright side, I am becoming a stronger artist because of it…**

**There's a new poll up on my profile, so go have a vote at it if you will, please.**

**Trivia:**

**Spike and Applebloom is the only canon couple that I've actually come to support. As I was thinking of the concept, I found it hard to write without the inclusion of an OC, and that's when I came up with our mysterious character.**

**You might recognize the blazing canine from two previous chapters way back in the stories of Season 1. Coal was just barely mentioned on Dream's birthday party in The Magic of Dreams and made a small appearance in Kindness is the Cure.**


	3. A Sympathetic Gemstone

A Sympathetic Gemstone

Spike nervously stood in front of the door to Sweet Apple Acres's farmhouse. He couldn't figure out why exactly his claws were ice cold, or why his heart seemed to be trying to escape his chest. A million times over he and Twilight visited the farm, so why now would he be jumpy? Maybe it had something to do with the reason for his visit. Usually he came to see Applejack, as she was the main pony Twilight ever came to see when taking a trip to the orchard. Today he was alone, and visiting Applebloom, who was closer to his age, and had no more than thirty minutes ago asked him to attend a slumber party. That last thought brought his worry to a different place.

_What if Applejack answers? _he thought frantically. His warming blood ran cold in the afternoon sun when he thought about who else lived there. _Or worse, Big Macintosh! What if they think it's a date or something!_

Spike might have been a dragon, but at that moment he remembered that he would be lucky if his largest spine would reach the bottom of Applebloom's much bigger brother's chin. He swallowed the growing lump in his throat, only to have it shoot right back up his esophagus. The thoughts of leaving and catching Applebloom someplace farther from her protective siblings began to sound better and better with each sliver of paranoid scenario he managed to come up with. He nearly managed to steps away from the door when it opened.

"Howdy Spike!" Applejack greeted happily.

Fear seized the dragon's body. "H-hey, Applejack", he barely squeaked.

"Whatcha doin' here, par'dner? Ya look like ya seen a ghost! Everythin' alright?"

He forced his head to rock in a nod. "I just came to tell Applebloom…that I can stay this weekend for the slumber party."

"Well, she ain't here right now, but Ah'll let her know", said the orange Earth Pony.

She began to close the door, and Spike was almost home free, that was until his mouth got the better of his head. "It's not a date!" he yelled before bolting as fast as he could away from the house.

Applejack watched him take out. "That dragon's actin' weirder than a frog with no ribbit…Why would Ah think it was a date?"

Spike's feet did their duty until he was completely sure that he was well out of sight of the Element of Honesty. Slowly, he came to a slow walk. He gasped heavily to regain the oxygen he lost during his sprint back into the center of Ponyville. Along with his galloping heart, Spike's head spun with the rush of adrenaline that still blended his thoughts into one of the finest mental soups he had ever felt. There was so much going on he could barely handle it! If only he had known that he was merely stressed out by one, single thing he probably would be able to think straight.

The dragon took a couple of deep breaths and eventually got his lungs to listen to him. When his vitals were back to as normal as an embarrassed dragon's could be, he took a look at where his frantic running brought him. He plummeted straight into the depths of depression when he saw the Carousel Boutique towering before him. The anger from the day before returned, and he could feel his face begin to burn with the memories of his vain attempt to charm the unicorn who called the fashion shop home.

He clenched his fists to in a physical effort to force the tears away. To quell his anger, Spike turned away from the building, and was unfortunate to find that his ears did the work his eyes couldn't: hear what was going on inside. He tried to block it out, yet he desired to know what was happening. There seemed to be a small conversation going on between her and what was probably a client. That's what he thought, anyway, until Rarity's voice got excited.

"Oh, Linen!" giggled Rarity, "Of course I'll go to the Ballroom Blitz with you!"

Spike couldn't hear what the stallion said after, for his world was crashing down around him too loudly. That was it. Now all possibilities of ever capturing Rarity's heart shattered into broken dreams. The sadness crept into his stomach, adding nausea to his heartbreak. His gaze dropped to the dirt path now that he no longer had a reason to keep it up. He dragged himself away from the vicinity, unable to hold his tears back. One or two ponies called out to him for conversation, but were unable to grab the dysphoric dragon's attention.

It was lucky none of his closer friends saw him. The last thing he wanted to do was half to be faced with a happy pony in his time of sadness. He was still at the point of disbelief, and a comforting smile in his face would only get in his way of trying to make sense of what just happened. The contradicting glorious day slowly passed by Spike. Everypony else enjoyed themselves all around him, laughing and playing, hanging out with friends, or just walking in the warming sunlight. The day was so bright and nice that not one pony noticed Twilight Sparkle's depressed assistant brooding among them.

Spike's feet eventually became weary as he walked through town. Coincidentally enough he came upon a bench not much farther after he emotionally limped past Vinyl Scratch's music store. There he sat to study the ground. The clock tower's bells from the tinkering shop across town rang with the passing hour. He counted the chimes to three and wondered exactly where the time of the day went. False relief warmed his cold heart up somewhat. He leaned back against the bench, and felt the ruby he stashed under his scales press against him. Having nothing else to do and knowing that he could at least try to eat away his sorrow, he brought it out into the light. It looked much brighter in the sun's rays, making it look much more delectable. He licked his lips and moved it to his mouth. That's when he noticed something odd about it.

A small flame flickered underneath its transparent exterior. Upon closer inspection, he saw it divide and grow until a blaze was raging inside of it. Sheer amazement was the only thing that kept him from dropping the stone immediately. As time passed, the fire shaped itself into a pony-like figure. It looked at him intently. If he didn't know any better, Spike would have thought that it was looking directly into his soul.

Suddenly, in a blinding yellow flash, he was sucked into the gem. He screamed as he fell through the white nothingness inside of the ruby. He fell for what felt like forever until he was suspended in midair. He stopped shouting in protest when the pony he saw in the gem approach him. She was completely white now, not the flaming spirit he saw earlier. She was light itself, radiating with warmness. None of her features could be made out. Only her eyes were distinguished against her white body. At that moment he knew she was the pony from his dream.

"Who are you?!" he shouted, "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"

The pony sat and watched him. "It is not I who has brought you here", she said, her mouth never moving. Her soft, yet powerful voice echoed around them from an unknown source.

"What?" Spike asked in disbelief, "If you didn't, who did?"

"When you looked inside of my gem, you sought to use it to extinguish the hurt that has been afflicted upon your heart", she explained, "When our eyes met as you inspected my Sympathy Gem, I saw the hurt within you. You wanted so badly to do away with it your soul acted on its own, and plunged into my sanctuary."

Spike's head was swimming with thoughts and questions as he tried to process it all. "W-who are you?"

"I am one of the twelve surviving Gem Sprites. My name is Selphia, and I am the guardian of the Sympathy Gem. I know who you are, Spike, and I know why you are hurt." She stood up and circled him, inspecting him.

"Whoever said my name was Spike and whoever said I was hurt?" He crossed his arms.

"Your soul has told me, Spike. While you may not be obliged to share your feelings, your soul has a very loose tongue. It has explained everything to me. It is desperate for help." She stopped in front of him and approached him close. Her golden eyes stared directly into his.

"Why am I here then? Why can't I go back?" Spike tried to struggle from his midair suspension, but he only remained as weightless as he had been since he stopped falling.

"You are here because you no longer want to feel the disappointment of failure. You want to find love as many of your friends have. You have a nice, strong, and peaceful soul, and I want to help." Her glowing white form faded and she changed her form a second time so that she was now a regular earth pony. Her coat was ghostly white, and her mane and tail matched. Her eyes were as red as the gem around them. On her flanks was a Cutie Mark that resembled a ruby surrounded by flames.

"I offer my help to you. Do you accept?" Now that they were normal, her eyes seemed more piercing than before.

"You can get Rarity to like me?" Spike asked giddily.

"I will help you find love." Her statement was simple and to anypony else it may have seemed vague, but it was good enough for the dragon.

"I accept then!"

In a second flash of light, Spike was again in Ponyville, still holding the ruby. Selphia was no longer inside it. From the looks of it, he had been asleep for about an hour, as the sun was setting.

He looked at the gem again. "I knew it was too good to be true", he sighed. He dozed off and had been given a false hope.

"Spike", echoed Selphia's strained voice in his head.

He looked around. "Selphia? Where are you?"

"I am still inside the Sympathy Gem. It takes much of my power to speak through telepathy, but I must to instruct you on how to release me. We must hurry, my strength is steadily fading!" Her voice was becoming more stressed.

"How?" He asked the ruby.

"You must kiss my gem. It will provide me with a way to escape. Now hurry, if I lose any more power, I may not succeed in leaving!" Her voice was fading as she lost strength.

Spike hesitated; he had to _kiss _the gem? It was weird, but it sounded like Selphia was suffering. He quickly gave the stone a small peck. It started to glow orange, and then started to grow brighter and brighter. When it was hard to look at, the orb of light left it and floated outward, materializing into the Sprite known as Selphia.

She sighed. "It has been a few centuries since I have stepped hoof outside my gem." She looked at him. "Is something wrong?"

Spike was staring at her in awe. Outside the gem, she still radiated light, even though she was now in her mortal form. "You're glowing!"

"Thank you for the compliment." She giggled, and called back the light. It crept back inside her. "Better?"

"Yeah. It would be kind of weird to walk around looking like a candle", Spike teased.

"You tease me, but that trick always receives a compliment!" She pointed to the library. "Shall we set off, then?"

"Oh, right, I forgot all about that." Spike started to walk, but Selphia lowered her head and flipped Spike onto her back.

"Before we arrive, I must tell you my mortal name. You must refer to me from now until I say as Star Dancer."

Spike thought the request was a bit strange, but nodded regardless. "Oh, uh, okay."

The door to the library creaked open, whining in protest. Spike had been meaning to fix that for a while now, but he would always remember at a time he didn't have oil.

"Twilight, I'm home!" He called, hopping off Star Dancer as she closed the door behind them.

"Shhh!" Came the hushed reply. Spike looked to where Twilight's shush had come from. He saw her resting on her favorite reading couch with a book open in front of her. A gray-blue Pegasus snuggled up to her in his sleep. To somepony who didn't have a taste in things like that would have thought the scene was a bit nauseating—Rainbow Dash especially—but Star Dancer almost broke her posture and let out an "awww". After being shut away for a few centuries, a scene like that made her inner filly nearly present herself.

"Who's your friend?" Twilight asked, gently hopping off the couch so as not to disturb the sleeping Pegasus.

"This is Star Dancer, she's a-", Spike started.

"Traveler. I was walking through town looking for a place to rest my hooves. I found Spike and we were hoping I could stay for a night or two", she interrupted before he spilled the beans. She gave Spike a glance that told him she would handle it.

Twilight didn't hesitate. "I don't mind. After all, any friend of Spike is a friend of mine." Twilight smiled. She never once turned down a tired pony.

Selphia was about to give her thanks, but the sound of hoofsteps caused her to pause. Twilight looked back over her shoulder to see the now awake Pegasus.

"Twilight, I think that's a good idea", he yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I can take the couch for the next few nights to free up the spare bed. After all, I know what it's like to be in her position."

"If space is a problem, then I will not trouble you for a place to sleep", Star argued. "I can find someplace else to rest. It will not be a problem."

"Nonsense. You can have the spare bed. I'm sure Dream Runner wouldn't mind if he slept in my bed for one or two nights." Twilight flashed Dream a smile.

Scratching his head, Dream asked, "But Twilight, where are you going to sleep?"

"In my bed of course", she giggled.

Dream started to shake as he tried to process it. Soon, he fell over, eyes wide with shock and face as red as can be, making him look somewhat violet.

"Is he…?"

"Yep. He'll think it all out momentarily." Twilight pointed to the staircase. "My bedroom is right up there. Feel free to sleep whenever you see fit."

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I think I will do just that." The Earth Pony left the room for the upstairs.

"I'm pretty tired. Guess I'll get some sleep too." Spike said.

"Since when do you turn in at six?" Twilight asked suspiciously.

"Uh, Rarity needed me to do something that really made me tired. Besides, I am a _baby _dragon after all." Spike nervously replied.

Twilight eyed him suspiciously, but dismissed it. "Okay, I guess Dream and I can clean up. It's not too messy."

"For once." The two looked at Dream. He was standing up again, still blushing. He was smiling at Twilight teasingly.

"Oh, hush, you know you read just as much as I do." Twilight pointed to the very big stack of books that were all about dreams next to the farthest reading couch.

"I know", Dream replied. "But my messes are neater."

Spike left the two playfully arguing about their messes and started upstairs. The scene was starting to remind him of all of his failures. Upon making the last step, he saw Star Dancer stretching and yawning.

"Um, Star Dancer?"

"Yes, Spike?" She yawned.

"When can we start trying to help me—?"

"Dawn, I promise." She climbed into bed. "My power has been drained. I must rest. A full night's sleep will get my energy back."

"Oh, okay, good night then."

"Spike…"

He climbed into his basket. "Yeah?"

The Gem Sprite didn't feel comfortable about what she was about to say, but she had to. He was giving up his hopes. "Spike I…When I told you that I would help you find love that is what I meant. I did not mean Rarity specifically…"

The only reply she got in return was the gentle sound of Spike snoring. He didn't hear her.

_All well, it may be best for him to find out himself. For now…I must do some dream searching._

**And we finally have the beginning of a new adventure! I wonder exactly what's going to happen to Twilight's number one assistant…**

**Finals are finally upon me. Hence the delay. You'll probably notice a difference in the style of the content of this chapter. That's because the majority was used in the first draft, and I brought it back as it was still needed in the plot. There will likely be more mistakes after the point where Spike takes out his gem too, and I apologize for being unable to revise them.**

**Trivia:**

**Selphia comes from my old phase of wanting to model all of my characters after some kind of element or emotion. She's probably the last to come out of that phase, and I'm not certain whether we'll see the others.**


	4. Dropping in on Dreams

Dropping in on Dreams

Selphia looked down at her sleeping body. It snoozed peacefully under her floating spirit. Swiveling around, she looked over the other sleepers in the room. The dream clouds that hung over them were inviting, but she had to be careful. One wrong step could leave her stranded in the minds of the dreamers.

She floated over to Spike's cloud pondering over whether or not she should start there. _No, it would not help. I need to explore Ponyville first, _she thought.

Her phantom form left through the library's roof. The moon was full, and all of the dream clouds in town glowed brightly in its light by it. She scanned her surroundings, trying to remember what Spike's soul had told her about his friends in her lack of energy. The Carousel Boutique was where it said Rarity lived.

"Perfect!"her phantasmic voice cheered over the rooftops. She flew through the town where the dress shop lay in wait. Once she drifted through the wall of the upper floor, she saw Rarity asleep. She snoozed under an eye mask and seemed to be sleeping very deeply.

Selphia entered the cloud above Rarity's head without thinking twice. On the other side of the white wall, she found herself on the first floor of the shop. It looked bare, but soon Rarity presented herself. She was running about, fixing up a lace here, or repairing a collar there.

"Oh, I must hurry. These dresses have to be finished by tonight!" she said to herself as she rushed around.

To Selphia, the dream was a Reminiscence Dream. But from when? If Spike didn't present himself soon, staying would be a waste of moonlight.

"Rarity! I'm here!" The little dragon's voice came.

Selphia turned and drifted over to Spike to watch the scene unfold before her. She watched as Rarity gave Spike endless chores ranging from simple tasks to muscle numbing feats. The Gem Sprite watched in wonder as Spike completed each job as obediently as the last.

_Is Spike nothing but an errand boy to her? _Selphia thought bitterly. She didn't at all like the fact that Rarity couldn't see Spike's obvious feelings for her. She had half a mind to find somepony else, but she still had to try for him, even if she knew that turning the mare's heart from that stallion he overheard in the boutique hours before would be impossible.

Outside, the sky was darkening. Spike was now dripping with sweat, and Selphia had lost count of the chores Rarity gave him. Finally, to Sprite's relief, Rarity seemed to be pleased with the progress made and turned to Spike. "You certainly are a gentledragon, Spike. You truly do know how to make a lady happy." She smiled brightly at him.

"So, um, now that the work is done…" Spike started nervously, "Do you think that maybe…"

He never got to finish. A knock that came from the door sent Rarity into a panicked frenzy. "Oh, they're here! Is my mane straight? Are my hooves clean?" She rushed around, picking up small things on the floor and generally cleaning an already very tidy room.

Before Spike knew what was happening, Rarity had started to scoot him to the back door. By now, the knocking was growing impatient.

"Coming!" Rarity called. She glanced at Spike. "I offer you my sincerest of apologies Spike, but I must insist that you leave. These are very important clients and…"

Selphia decided she saw enough. She floated upwards until she broke the barrier of the dream cloud and returned to the physical world. She pondered her next destination.

"Spike's soul said that Pinkie Pie lives near here. After seeing what her dreams have to offer, I can move on to Applejack and then the others", she said to herself. Nodding in self-agreement, she floated through the walls and over Ponyville once more.

Dream clouds filled the inside of Sugarcube Corner. Selphia had to dodge around two or three to prevent herself from accidentally stumbling into the wrong dream. She finally found her intended room, where a pink mare lay asleep for her. Pinkie Pie, as Selphia observed, was a restless, or, in more correct terms, an energetic sleeper. She tossed and turned, spoke, and even danced in her sleep. The Gem Sprite was somewhat nervous to enter the dream cloud of the party pony. Who knew what lay on the other side? Her curiosity and sense of duty soon got the better of her and she broke through the wall of the dream cloud.

As soon as Selphia broke the second layer of the dream cloud, a deafening wave of cheering and music nearly sent her flying back out. After rubbing the ringing out of her ears, she observed that Pinkie Pie was throwing the largest party that Equestria had ever seen. Selphia sure was glad that it was only a dream. She feared that the very fabric of time and space would rip apart from the intensity of such a party in reality. Streamers, confetti, balloons, and the occasional cupcake decorated the air, seeming to rain down from the highest points of the sky.

Selphia searched the massive party for the pony that had started it. She didn't have to look long; Pinkie Pie was zooming from one area of Ponyville to the next, making sure that everypony was partying their heart out just as much as she was. She whizzed past, causing Selphia to flinch.

She floated back up to the sky to find where Pinkie Pie had gotten to. She saw the Element of Laughter had stopped near the library and was talking to Spike, who didn't seem to be having much fun. Her heart jumped. This piece of reminiscence could be what she was looking for!

"Aww, come on Spike! You can still have fun!" coaxed Pinkie Pie.

Spike, sitting on the bench he sat on when he met Selphia, wasn't so sure. "I don't know, Pinkie. I saw Rarity dancing with a colt earlier, _after_ I asked her if she would dance with me!"

Pinkie Pie thought for a second. "Do you want to dance with _me_?" she asked, leaning forward slightly.

Selphia's ears perked up.

"What?"

Pinkie Pie smiled wider. "Do you want to dance with me, silly?"

Spike stared at her in disbelief. "Why are you asking me that?"

"So you can be happy of course", Pinkie Pie said a-matter-of-factly.

The dragon smiled. Pinkie did always know how to push his happy button. "Pinkie Pie", Spike said standing, "May I have this dance?"

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, you're such a gentledragon."

Now Selphia was confused. Pinkie Pie had said that, but she said it in a friendly sarcastic way. Did she mean what she said? Does this energetic pony have feelings for Spike? Or was she just being a friend, like she usually was when others were sad? The dance they shared didn't confirm Selphia's suspicions. But she was still going to keep watching just in case.

Pinkie Pie danced alongside Spike. It was a very, well, Pinkie Pie kind of dance. No move transitioned evenly with the next, nor was there a set rhythm, yet the two seemed to be enjoying themselves regardless.

"There is only one way to find out if staying is worthwhile", Selphia sighed. She floated away, out of sight. Concentrating, she managed to make herself physical to the dream world, no longer a phantom to the dream world. Hesitantly, she left the alley and walked through the party filled street. She winced at everything noise and movement in a six foot range. She continued to walk until she came within range of Pinkie Pie and Spike.

Pinkie Pie quickly noticed the stranger. She rushed over, causing Selphia to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Hi! You're new aren't you? I'm Pinkie Pie! Wanna be my friend?" the sugar fueled pony said so fast that her words almost became another language.

Selphia blinked away her stare. "Why yes, Pinkie Pie. I would like very much to be your friend."

"YAAAAAAAAAAY!" Pinkie Pie shouted at the top of her lungs.

Selphia cringed. "I am Star Dancer. Charmed to meet you."

"So, you wanna dance, raid the dessert table, play twister, bob for apples, sing, or raid the desert table? Well do ya, huh, huh, HUH?" Pinkie Pie leaned closer until she was nose to nose with Selphia, whom of which was feeling very uncomfortable.

"N-no thank you. I would just like to talk for now, if that is okay." She tried to sound unshaken, but failed miserably.

"Are you okay?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes, I am just somewhat wary. I am not usually in a loud setting." Selphia jumped as a balloon popped behind her. "Is there someplace quieter we could speak?"

Pinkie Pie nodded and took her to her room in Sugarcube Corner. They sat at the table nearest the staircase. A light blue unicorn lay asleep on her bed.

"Whatchya wanna talk about?"

"I would like to talk about the dragon you were dancing with", Selphia replied. The Gem Sprite was still shaking; she didn't know what was going to happen next.

"Spike? Yeah, he was sad because Rarity didn't dance with him." Pinkie Pie cocked her head. "What about him?"

"Well…it was just that…it seemed like you really wanted him to be happy and—"

"I like to see all of my friends happy. I can't stand it when they're sad", Pinkie interrupted.

"Oh, so you don't have feelings for him", Selphia deducted. She added under her breath, "Figures."

"No", Pinkie Pie chimed. She subconsciously glanced toward the unicorn on the bed. That little detail Spike's soul didn't tell her.

Selphia nodded. "Thank you Pinkie Pie, I will see you another time."

Pinkie Pie was going to object, but stopped when she couldn't remember why. Selphia had already reverted back to her ghostly form and erased herself from Pinkie Pie's dream and memories. Once she was outside again, she sat atop Sugarcube Corner and pondered her next move.

"I am getting nothing but dead ends. Perhaps...I will go with my original plan_._"So, she set out for Sweet Apple Acres. The horizon began to show signs of light, signifying the time she was losing. At this point she would only have enough time for one more dream. Inside the ranch house of the vast orchards, she counted four dream clouds. With the time diminishing, Selphia had to make her choice count. She floated through the halls, looking for Applejack's room.

"…Spike…"

Selphia stopped in the hallway. Peering into the room the voice came from, she saw Applejack's little sister.

"Applebloom?" Selphia looked at the dream cloud. It seemed to be a slight pink in color. That was more than promising.

She took a hopeful breath, and entered the filly's dream. She felt her way through the pink cloud. It was so thick she could barely see the nose on her face. She stumbled through it and fell through to the other side. She caught herself and floated gently to the ground. With the exception of the endless apple trees the dream appeared to be empty. Applebloom was nowhere to be found.

She soared around, hoping to find the filly before she woke up. Selphia didn't have to look for long. She found Applebloom sitting on a hill in front of a magnificent sunset. She floated over to the filly and waited for the dream to unfold. Several minutes passed and nothing happened. Selphia started to become nervous. Her time window was becoming smaller by the second.

Applebloom sighed. "Ah guess Spike ain't comin'." She sadly stood up and began to pack up the picnic she had spread out.

Selphia floated down to her. She wanted to help Applebloom, but it was too near to dawn to risk materializing herself to the Dream Realm again.

"Applebloom!"

The two ponies looked in the direction of the apple orchard. Spike was running as fast as he could across the small valley. He was panting when he finally made it up the hill.

"I'm…sorry…for being late Applebloom", he gasped. He paused to breathe. "…There was a big mess at the library and Twilight wouldn't let me leave until it was all cleaned up."

"Why couldn' Dream Runner help?" asked Applebloom, referring to the new assistant librarian.

"He found out about an unexplored cave near Coltonville", Spike explained, "He's been there for the past two days. We don't know when he'll be back. Anyway, why did you want to meet me here?"

The filly blushed. "Well, 'cuz Ah really, really wanna thank ya fer makin' me feel better yesterday. Diamond Tiara an' Silverspoon were bein' really mean."

"It was nothing, Applebloom. They just don't know a good thing when they see it."

That was all the Earth Pony needed to hear. Slowly she leaned forward and planted a delicate kiss on his cheek. Selphia saw more than enough. Even though Spike's soul told her much about his friends, it did fail to mention a few things. Unfortunately, the Gem Sprite could no longer think about that. A thundering roar blasted from above, followed by the slow collapse of the dream. Chunks of the world around began to fall apart and crumble into nothingness.

Quickly, Selphia shot straight up as fast as she could. Bits and piece of the dream did their best to keep her from leaving, but she managed to dodge around them. The surrounding world started to grow brighter, pushing Selphia to her max speed. She burst through the dream cloud's wall, landing on the other side with a crash. She looked up, gasping, to see Applebloom waking up. Outside, the sun was starting to rise.

"That was too close. I cannot allow myself to be so careless", she choked out.

When she fully collected herself, she flew back to the library. Everypony would be waking up soon, and she wanted to be there in case one of them attempted to wake her up. It was a good thing she told Twilight and Dream Runner she was a traveler. If she didn't get back before they woke up, they might just let her continue to sleep.

She entered her body immediately upon her arrival. Selphia woke up feeling completely refreshed. "That is much better. Now I just have to wait for Spike to wake up. I think I have a decent idea of where to begin my plan…"

She walked down to the first floor, where Twilight was busy opening up the library. She didn't so much as pause in her work when she spotted Selphia. "Good morning. I hope you slept well."

"I did. It was a delightful night's rest. Thank you very much Twilight Sparkle", Selphia gratefully replied.

"You're most certainly welcome. And you can just call me Twilight. I don't mind", Twilight said.

Just then, Owlowiscious flew through a window and landed on Twilight's back. He was carrying a letter in his mouth. "Hoot!"

"Oh, hello Owlowiscious. What's this, you have a letter for me?" Twilight took the letter from the bird and read over it. "Hmm…Looks like I'm taking a trip to Sweet Apple Acres today", she said to herself.

Selphia jumped. Now she had the perfect start to her plan. "Sweet Apple Acres? That was on my list of stops here in Ponyville. Could you guide me there, Twilight?"

"Of course!" Twilight replied happily. "Though, I do have some things to do around here first. Do you mind waiting for a few minutes?"

"Not at all", Selphia replied, "I am in no hurry."

"Okay, I'll tell you when I'm finished." Twilight turned back to the cart of books that had to be shelved.

Selphia let Twilight work and left to explore the myriad of different books that the Ponyville library had to offer. It may have been centuries before she had been out of her gem, but it was eons before she was on the inside of a library. She had almost forgotten how to read! She kept browsing, but didn't immediately find anything that interested her. Selphia then settled her eyes upon a shelf of scrolls. She smiled to herself on the way over. She browsed them until she saw a familiar plate on the lip of a shelf. She grabbed the appropriate roll of parchment in her mouth and carried it to the nearest podium. She unrolled it and smiled even wider as she read the title.

_Sympathy_

_ By Pony Unknown_

"It is hard to believe that I had written this so long ago", Selphia said to herself. She remembered back to the time when she presented the finished work to Princess Celestia for publishing. It was one of the most precious things that Selphia had ever accomplished. Only four hundred copies were made, so finding this one was a big surprise. She read over her masterpiece, identifying personal mistakes she wished she would have seen when writing it. Once finished with her criticisms, she replaced the scroll. She glanced towards Twilight, who was still pushing books onto their shelves. "Would you like some help, Twilight?"

"No, thank you", Twilight replied, "My help should be waking up any second now."

As if on cue, Dream Runner jumped down from the second floor and stretched. "Good morning, Twilight."

"Good morning", Twilight said, "I have a cart of books for you."

Dream nodded, "On it."

"Chirp!" Tweeted a baby phoenix from Spike's shoulder as he descended the stairs.

"Save some books for us you guys!"

They all set off to work without any complaints. Each had a specific task and together they flowed like clockwork to get the morning chores out of the way.

"Dream Runner, could you finish up for me?" Twilight asked, "I have to go over to Applejack's."

"You bet, Twilight", Dream called over his shoulder. He returned to stacking the last few books he had on the topmost shelf in the room. He climbed back down the shelf's ladder and slid another stack of books on his left wing.

"Thanks", Twilight said, "I'll be back soon."

"See you then."

"Hoot!"

"Tweet!"

"I'll stay here and help Dream", stated Spike.

"Spike, I am going with Twilight. I have something to do before we start today", Selphia called.

"Start what?" Twilight asked as the door to the library closed behind them.

The white pony hesitated. "Well…I promised Spike that I would help him…um…" Selphia started. There was no possible way she could come up with a lie without Twilight noticing, and since Twilight was technically the dragon's guardian, she had a right to know. Selphia looked around, making sure the coast was clear. She whispered, "Can you keep a secret, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight nodded, and leaned in closely. "I can…well, most of the time."

Selphia eyed her sternly. "I must be able to trust you to the fullest."

Twilight nodded. "I promise, you _can _trust me. Even if I have to strain."

Selphia looked into Twilight's eyes. They held the sincerest of looks within them. "Very well", Selphia decided, "I am not who I said I was last night."

Twilight braced herself. "Is that good or bad?"

Selphia took a deep breath. "I am one of the Twelve Emotion Gem Sprites. I am the protector of the Sympathy Ruby." She paused to let Twilight process it.

Twilight wasn't very shocked. She had fought werewolves, dragons, hydras, and many other creatures, so encountering a Gem Sprite didn't come as a surprise, especially with prior knowledge of them. "I've heard of the Gem Sprites from Princess Celestia", Twilight said. "I believe that you are responsible for maintaining the emotions of the world with the help of the Emotion Orbs."

"You are correct", Selphia confirmed, "We also are responsible for displaying our specific emotion to those who need it most. This usually occurs once every few centuries."

"Spike?" Twilight guessed.

Selphia answered, "Yesterday, Spike found my ruby and wanted to eat away his sorrow with it."

Twilight nodded in comprehension. She had noticed lately how Spike hadn't been nearly as cheery as his usual self. She had put it on her to-do list to ask him what was bothering him if it persisted.

"His soul confessed to me how he was in constant rejection from your friend Rarity", Selphia explained. "So I offered him the chance to find love. But there is a problem…he is hoping that I can make Rarity fall in love with him."

"But with Linen that's completely impossible, so you're going through all of his friends for a potential match?" Twilight deduced.

Selphia smiled. "I have already done that. Last night I searched through a few of your friends' dreams, and I found the perfect one."

Twilight moved forward curiously, "Who, Applejack? Is that why you want to come with me to Sweet Apple Acres? You do know she already has a coltfriend, right?"

Selphia was by now beaming. "No, but that's not who I meant…"

"Then who?!" Twilight was so anxious to find out who would be matched with Spike that she had shouted her question. Selphia didn't even seem to notice. She found it enjoyable to toy with Twilight. She even added to it.

"In good time, Twilight Sparkle", Selphia giggled, "In good time."

**I would call this situational irony, but we don't know every detail that Twilight doesn't…**

**This chapter is actually two of the first version's that I made into one whole, with a few revisions. I wrote this story so long ago that my old writing style may still be present even though I did my best to write over it.**

**Trivia:**

**Selphia may be an immortal embodiment of emotion, but that doesn't mean she's all-knowing and powerful, as we've seen already.**

**Dream Runner always puts his duties at the library before his personal interests, hence him helping out before going to explore.**


End file.
